WHITEPAPERSWORDS OF AUTHORITYFrom Recruiting toOnboarding—Hiring the RightCandidate the Right WayTrish Stromberg, Chief Marketing Officer, iSolved Human CapitalManagementArguably one of the most important jobs of a human resource professional is thehiring and onboarding ofemployees. There are many differentaspects of this that are important tolook at before hiring a new employee.RisksThere are several risks that everyHR professional should be aware ofwhen involved in the hiring process.Legal RisksSome of the legal risks to considerwhen recruiting and hiring potentialcandidates include:• Discrimination claims• Negligent hiring• Tortious interference• Affirmative-action complianceOther RisksBeyond basic qualifications, thereare several reasons why a candidatecould be the wrong fit. Whensearching for the candidate, think theright fit—not the perfect fit. At times,we search for the candidates whohave it all and do it all. That may soundcool, but they usually don’t exist.Hiring the Right Candidate, theRight WayThe right candidate savesmoney while making money forthe organization. However, keep inmind there’s always a cost for newemployees.Employees are never “one size fitsall.” When hiring, consider companyculture, processes and mission.All these factors must align for anemployee to be a good fit.To hire the right way, HR managersshould consider the following fivesteps:

Step 1: Know the job beforeposting. To recruit the best peoplefor the position, the job descriptionmust be accurate. Often, the jobdescription doesn’t match the jobcriteria, which can lead to issues ifyou hire someone with a skewedperception of what the job entails.The most important thing an HRprofessional can do is to understandthe essential qualifications andresponsibilities before creating a jobdescription.

Remember that when creating job
qualifications, differentiate between
“must-haves” and “nice-to-haves.”
It would be nice to have someone
with a graduate degree, but only a
bachelor’s degree is truly necessary.

Step 2: Use an application
form. Application forms help with
consistency and allow hiring managers
to control the information received.
Include information that will reveal
if the applicant is qualified or not,
such as certifications, education and
other important information. Make
sure to avoid questions surrounding
criminal history, information that
implicates protected classes, National
Guard status and Social Security
numbers. Every state has different
regulations regarding what can be
asked and what cannot—be certain to
understand local regulations.

Step 3: Interviewing dosand don’ts. Interviews are greatopportunities to get to knowcandidates and identify if they are agood fit for the company’s culture aswell as the job. Be aware, however,that interviewing can become verycasual and informal, allowing roomfor questions to slip in that are notnecessarily legal. Have the samelist of questions for each candidateand make sure that interviewersunderstand which questions are notallowed to be asked.

Step 4: Testing and background
screening. It’s hard to get to know
your candidate based solely on
traditional interviewing and hiring
methods—a resume can only tell you
so much. And interviews aren’t as
revealing as they may seem. Preemployment tests can help narrow
your candidate pool further by
more easily identifying key skills and
personality traits. This can help save
you thousands by ensuring you don’t
hire the wrong candidate.

Step 5: Onboarding. The final
step is onboarding, which is more like
a process. Just like there are certain
things employers need when hiring,
there are certain things employees
need after being hired. Make sure
employees are properly trained
into their new position. With proper
training, an employee can ease into a
new environment and will feel more
welcome.

As the hiring process is one of the
most important responsibilities of
an HR professional, it is imperative
that the best resources are available
to them. iSolved has developed
a comprehensive tool that allows
managers to work through this
process with ease and organization.
iSolved Hire provides a smart, cloud-based platform to help manage the
recruiting process from job posting to
onboarding.